Start Your Year, Start Your Day



February 01, 2010
Philippians 4:21-23

21 Give my greetings to each of God’s holy people—all who belong to Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their greetings.

22 And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household.

23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Philippians 4:21-23 (NLT)


Looking back through the book of Philippians, it's pretty apparent what Paul's priorities are and what they're not. And His earthly "needs" were definitely not a priority. We use the word “need” pretty carelessly these days. We say things like “I need an iPhone”, or “we really need a vacation”. But have you ever stopped to think about what you really need? Odds are most of what we call needs are really just wants that we think we can’t live without. 

Throughout the month, many of the "Thankful Thoughts" have expressed thankfulness to have been born and live in our amazing country. Let me too express that sentiment. However, one potential drawback of living in America is that we have never really had to depend on God to truly meet our needs.

Chances are that you have never wondered where your next meal would come from or if you would be able to find clean drinking water for the day. If we’re not careful, we can easily fall into the trap of self-dependency rather than God-dependency.

It can be a scary proposition to tell God that you want to fully count on Him to meet all of your needs. I, for one, would be afraid of what He might take away to make that happen. However, the Bible tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Not hard, or difficult. Impossible.

Yet this is the life that God has called us to live--the life of faith. What areas of your life do you count on you more than your Heavenly Father? Why not let go of those things?

Here is a simple prayer to get you started:
God, I know that I count on myself to meet my needs more that you. Help me to trust you fully to meet my needs. Help me to not confuse the things that I would like to have with the things that I really need. Help me to demonstrate the kind of faith the pleases you. Amen.
 

A Thankful Thought


I am so thankful God uses us in spite of ourselves and our human failures and short comings. I bumped into a friend at the grocery store and in finding out they were going through a very rough time in life, I preceded once again to convince this person to give NewSpring a try with assurance Mark would give them something from God's word that would help. They promised they would come on Saturday to our XL services... I told them on accident the services started at 6:30 p.m.! On Saturday I was sharing this with Mark when it hit me I told them the wrong time. Not having any way to contact them, I started praying. God answered prayers and directed them to come at 6 p.m., what they thought was early! I am reminded we are only a tool... He is the one doing all the work.

A NewSpring Staff Member
 


Your Comments

1

Daryl Towne | February 03, 2010 at 08.23 am

Thank you so much for the daily verses. I have gotten in the habit of coming to work and turning on the computer and reading it to start each day. Some of the verses were just what i needed. Do you think it could be continued through the year?

2

Merideth Baker | February 04, 2010 at 06.11 am

ditto. i would LOVE for this blog to continue. i know it must be a lot of work, buti have gotten so much out of it (and sharing it on fb has gotten some of my friends into it, too!) thank you sooo much!

3

Linda Hackney | February 04, 2010 at 09.59 am

I totally agree!  I have enjoyed reading Proverbs every morning as well!.. Maybe we could just move on into another book??  I love the insight from all the NewSpring Staff as well… they have been very insightfull and uplifting!

Lovin’ it all!!
Linda

4

A Struggling Mother | June 22, 2010 at 11.13 am

This passage speaks directly to my life right now.  I am so thankful to have found this blog!!  God is reassuring me one more time that he is in control, and I am exactly where I should be in my life right now.  I need to stop struggling against it and embrace and enjoy this time in my life.  God will take care of my family!!!


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